Justin Mason’s Top 50 Shortstops: 2/10/2021
Drafts are in full swing and now I am 10 drafts into the season, here are my current ranks for the shortstop position for 2021. I will post updates every 2-4 weeks as things change with signings, injuries, or news in Major League Baseball.
Justin Mason’s Top 50 Shortstops: 2/10/2021
| Rk | Player | Team | Position(s) | ADP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Tatis Jr. | SD | SS | 2.42 | My #1 hitter this year |
| 2 | Trea Turner | WAS | SS | 7.17 | I think you can argue he should be a top 3 pick. |
| 3 | Trevor Story | COL | SS | 11.21 | Love Story, but the team around him is going to be bad |
| 4 | Francisco Lindor | NYM | SS | 16.77 | Move to New York is nice in spite of park downgrade. |
| 5 | Adalberto Mondesi | KC | SS | 19.85 | Boom or Bust, but I am here for it. |
| 6 | Xander Bogaerts | BOS | SS | 35.54 | Is anyone safer than Xander? |
| 7 | Bo Bichette | TOR | SS | 23.52 | The more I think about it, the more I am wanting to fade the price. |
| 8 | Tim Anderson | CWS | SS | 38.88 | I don’t know how he keeps hitting for high averages, but at some point I guess he keeps proving he can. |
| 9 | Corey Seager | LAD | SS | 40.52 | Skills are fire, but I still worry about injury risk. |
| 10 | Gleyber Torres | NYY | SS | 69.13 | Should bounceback after lackluster 2020 |
| 11 | Javier Baez | CHC | SS | 69.38 | Getting to watch video in game again should help him bounceback. |
| 12 | Marcus Semien | TOR | SS | 141.15 | Love the move to Toronto! |
| 13 | Dansby Swanson | ATL | SS | 100.21 | We have had our differences in the past, but I am willing to draft him now. |
| 14 | Tommy Edman | STL | 2B, 3B, SS, OF | 126.02 | I think there is enough pop and speed with a great flexibility. |
| 15 | Carlos Correa | HOU | SS | 130.79 | I still believe the talent is there, but is the health? |
| 16 | Andres Gimenez | CLE | 2B, 3B, SS | 153.79 | Cleveland is a great landing spot for Gimenez. |
| 17 | Didi Gregorius | PHI | SS | 177.65 | Resigning in Philly was one of the best spots for him. |
| 18 | Ha-seong Kim | SD | SS | 166.15 | Crowded situation in San Diego has me worried about playing time. |
| 19 | Paul DeJong | STL | SS | 215.63 | I am willing to overlook 2020 because it was such a weird season for the Cardinals. |
| 20 | Jorge Polanco | MIN | SS | 209.27 | Addition of Simmons and move to second base make me a bit worried about his playing time if he struggles at all. |
| 21 | Amed Rosario | CLE | SS | 228.75 | Love the move to Cleveland for his playing time. |
| 22 | Chris Taylor | LAD | 2B, SS, OF | 228.27 | Taylor always seems to outproduce his ADP and he should play close to everyday. |
| 23 | Willy Adames | TB | SS | 318.56 | At worst, he is a compiler, but I think there is more there. |
| 24 | Jonathan Villar | NYM | 2B, SS | 150.88 | Awful landing spot for Villar makes it hard to draft him. |
| 25 | Elvis Andrus | OAK | SS | 433.37 | Love the landing spot in Oakland and I think he will be undervalued this year. |
| 26 | Niko Goodrum | DET | 2B, SS | 370.1 | There is power and speed here, but the batting average is a concern. |
| 27 | Isiah Kiner-Falefa | TEX | 3B, SS | 287.02 | Locked into playing time now. |
| 28 | Jake Cronenworth | SD | 1B, 2B, SS | 189.85 | Until we know the DH is coming, he doesn’t have a place to play regularly. |
| 29 | David Fletcher | LAA | 2B, 3B, SS | 221.87 | Going to lead off, but has no power or speed. |
| 30 | J.P. Crawford | SEA | SS | 375.44 | Led off in every game he played after July 28th |
| 31 | Mauricio Dubon | SF | 2B, SS, OF | 275.38 | I think he will play a lot, but he is a future utility guy. |
| 32 | Wander Franco | TB | SS | 311.35 | The question isn’t talent. It is when he will arrive |
| 33 | Willi Castro | DET | 3B, SS | 251.25 | Showed more pop than I thought was there and less speed. Don’t know what to expect here. |
| 34 | Nick Ahmed | ARZ | SS | 351.17 | Defense lets him compile |
| 35 | Miguel Rojas | MIA | SS | 367.37 | Could be a 10/10 guy with a decent average. |
| 36 | Nico Hoerner | CHC | 2B, SS | 405.23 | Could accumulate in Chicago. |
| 37 | Joey Wendle | TB | 2B, 3B, SS | 306.23 | Strong side platoon is still a platoon. |
| 37 | Orlando Arcia | MLW | SS | 446.19 | Still young enough to put it all together. |
| 38 | Jazz Chisholm | MIA | 2B, SS | 437.29 | There is power and speed, but will he strike out too much. |
| 39 | Freddy Galvis | BAL | 2B, SS | 489.15 | Could compile just by playing every day. |
| 40 | Luis Urias | MLW | 2B, 3B, SS | 376.69 | Should play every day, but bats at the bottom. |
| 41 | Jose Iglesias | LAA | SS | 400.21 | Not going to repeat 2020, but could have deep league value. |
| 43 | Andrelton Simmons | MIN | SS | 412.96 | Will play every day, but I don’t think that matters much |
| 44 | Brandon Crawford | SF | SS | 495.35 | 80 grade hair. |
| 45 | Erik Gonzalez | PIT | 3B, SS | 540.44 | Will play everyday in Pittsburgh, but there is limited upside. |
| 46 | Oneil Cruz | PIT | SS | 713.27 | When will he be up? |
| 47 | Kevin Newman | PIT | 2B, SS | 469.88 | No place to play at the moment |
| 48 | Pat Valaika | BAL | 1B, 2B, SS | 491.33 | weak side platoon player |
| 49 | Royce Lewis | MIN | SS | 612.75 | Blocked again |
| 50 | Jose Garcia | CIN | SS | 591.6 | Needs more minor league time. |
ADP reflects NFBC draft champions league from 1/1-2/9
Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.
When your team’s starting shortstop is listed last, behind guys who aren’t even in the major leagues yet.
I am ALL OVER Gleyber Torres at his current ADP. It’s not often to find top-10 upside at pick 70 when health isn’t a concern.
I like Torres where’s he’s going too but I think you’re overstating his upside without SB upside. He has 12 SBs in 300+ games with a 75% success rate and a 36th percentile sprint speed.
I think DiDi will prove to be deserving of a higher ranking.
Does anybody else think of Dexter’s Laboratory re: “Didi” Gregorious? (probably not but it amuses me endlessly)
This is pretty much in the same order that the NFBC crowd has it, with the exception of recent signings. There’s nothing wrong with having evaluations like that — but it limits how interesting content like this is.
I’d be more interested in a deep dive into the handful of places where you disagree with the crowd (fades of Bichette, Cronenworth, Fletcher; enthusiasm for Adames). Maybe that’s still coming?
Just to clarify SD has stated that Cronenworth is the starter, and Kim is the guy going to move all over the diamond. Roster resource has Kim on the bench, and I agree on that. I don’t know why SD brass would continually be saying that if that wasn’t the case. Kim will always bat vs LHP, and will get plenty of playing time. I am operating under the assumption that Pham is going to be missing time. The wording in the lawsuit was scary.
The wording in civil lawsuits is pretty much always intentionally exaggerated and supposed to scare the defendant.
Ya no doubt. Still could be an area of concern.
As I try to fill my MI slot in a 10 team A.L., what can I expect from KinerFalefa as an everyday SS in Texas? Is 12 HR and 15 SB a reasonable target with a .275 avg? Everyday is a big jump for this player and they just traded his competition.
12 HRs might be at the high end of the distribution. But easily possible if the power he showed in ’20 spring training can be utilized in season. It all depends on if you believe the adjustments are big-league viable or just lighting up Spring training because he was better prepped that year than others.
Miguel Rojas is a boring, but nice pick in a deeper league. He’s going to play and his strikeout rate gives him a nice batting average floor.
Agreed. He surprised quite a bit last season, and maybe the team is getting a bit better around him. Boring, but in NL-only leagues, boring but productive can be gold.
Is Corey Seager “fire” or “fine”?
Willi Castro 33? LOL. Probably a top 5 Shortstop
Totally. Put him behind Tatis.
That’s high on Lindor, and really high on Mondesi— based off the SBs I have to assume? I’d have put Lindor down around 10, in the Anderson/Seager tier, since it seems that Lindor’s metronomic production is only a little above their floors.